Three California Assemblymen Get Serious About Amending the Constitution

Three California Assemblymen Get Serious About Amending the Constitution

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (April 26, 2012) -- On the heels of successfully passing a resolution calling on Congress to amend the Constitution to overturn the Citizens United decision, three California Assemblymen are championing a resolution that goes one step further.

Assemblyman Michael Allen (D-Sonoma County), Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles), and Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) have filed Assembly Joint Resolution 32. If passed, this resolution -- the first of its kind -- will start the process of the States calling for a constitutional convention, which would be limited to amending the Constitution to limit corporate personhood and declare that money does not constitute speech and can be democratically limited.

“I figured rather than just condemning the decision with a symbolic resolution, why not start the process to actually amend the Constitution?” said Assemblyman Gatto. “Voters are fed up with the notion that money is speech and that big money can drown out the speech of average citizens.”

There is broad agreement among both progressives and conservatives that a constitutional amendment will be required to overturn Citizens United. Unfortunately, a handful of billionaires, industry groups, and well-funded special interest groups have already bought enough members of Congress to render any resolutions, which simply call for Congress to amend the Constitution, ineffectual. Congress will never amend the Constitution on its own just because we ask nicely. Having the States call for a convention to add the 28th Amendment to the Constitution is therefore the only way to present Congress with a consequence to its continued inaction.

This landmark resolution is scheduled for a public hearing on May 1st before the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee. Please email and call the members of the Committee on Monday, April 30th to make sure they know you support Assembly Joint Resolution 32 and how important it is to the future of our democracy. We are also asking supporters to attend the public hearing and show their support on Tuesday at 8 a.m. in the State Capitol, Room 4202 .